Tag Archives: All Star

Talking to reporters today in Atlanta, manager Terry Collins said Jason Bay could be activated from the disabled list as soon as Tuesday. Bay is currently at Triple-A Buffalo on a rehab assignment.

He is on the DL after sustaining a concussion, June 15.

Meanwhile, Lucas Duda is out of today’s lineup with tightness in his left hamstring. Duda hoped the tightness would dissipate during the All-Star break but it did not.

“It’s been bothering him for a while, and he thought the rest was going to help him,” Collins said. “And it’s stiffened up on him a little bit. We’re going to give him a couple of days’ rest, use him late in the game if we need him.

“But, as I told him again today, I’d rather have him on the bench than have him start the game — especially in this humidity — and have it cramp up and have to pull him out in the third, because then it really shortens the moves you can make.”

After a plus first half, the Mets limp into the All-Star break on the skids – definitely not the team that captivated our imagination for the better part of three months.

We all knew they had questions and issues, but played through them. Just not to the point where we can think they’ve disappeared.

Over the past few weeks, the Mets bullpen continued to implode. That wasted Chris Young start comes immediately to mind. More alarming is that both R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana have twice been roughed up. The defense has been erratic, and the overall lack of power and speed have both come into play.

Losing two series to the Chicago Cubs is just not an encouraging sign.

The Mets finished the first half with a winning record, and maybe this is just a glitch. A warming to Sandy Alderson more parts are needed.

During the break, I’ll look at what went right and wrong, what is needed, and grade the players. I’ll be back around noon.

The Mets and Phillies have had a fake rivalry, and it has been rare when both teams were good at the same time. That’s when the competitive edge of the rivalry comes into play. They are division rivals and geographic rivals, but there’s little tenseness.

An element of hate was removed when Jose Reyes left in the offseason. The Phillies despised him and his style of play and gloated whenever they could. Reyes is gone and took that spice with him.

This year the Mets are playing well and chasing Washington for the NL East. Meanwhile, the Phillies are down and have made it known they will listen to offers for Shane Victorino and Cole Hamels. Both would look nice in Mets pinstripes, but forget it.

The Phillies have been in the playoffs since 2007. This year they’ve been beset with injuries and sluggish play. This is the time for the Mets to put them away, to put three games worth of distance between them before the All-Star break.

If the Mets are as good as they claim to be, they need to continue their momentum from the Dodgers series – including overcoming the disappointment of not getting a sweep – and laying the wood on a wounded opponent.

In that sense, there’s an element to the rivalry that has been missing.

There are so many things screwed up with the All-Star process, not the least of which is the fans voting. When you can sit at your computer and click on to a player’s name 10,000 times plus is just plain wrong.

WRIGHT: Loses fan vote.

Pablo Sandoval is a wonderful player, but David Wright is having a better season, and it isn’t close. The Mets, for several reasons, aren’t drawing significantly, and that’s a major reason. Then again, the Yankees are drawing and with two teams in NYC one would think there would be a trickle down effect. Just goes to reinforce the notion one is either a Met or Yankee fan. For the most part anyway.

Wright is in as an alternate, and R.A. Dickey is in, but there’s something special about starting the game. Wright doesn’t get that honor this year, and you never know what the future brings.

I’m not saying I have the answer to this, but there’s a flaw in the current system. I’d like to see the best players get the starting role. I mean, if the game is supposed to count, then the best players should be in. At least, that makes the most sense to me.

R.A. Dickey was again masterful, and threatened to throw his third one-hitter in four games. It wasn’t to be, but it didn’t make anybody think he should not be the NL All-Star starter.

Dickey is an aberration to the normal All-Star. He’s a journeyman who is getting by on a knuckleball. Some call it a gimmick. Others call it a trick pitch. Still others thinks something is shady.

As for Daniel Murphy, who hadn’t homered since last July, and went deep twice Wednesday in Chicago to support Dickey and delivered a three-run homer last hight. Murphy was expected to take the next this season if he stayed healthy. He as already been injured.

The Mets have their fair share of marquee players, but throughout there careers Dickey and Murphy have flown under the radar. There’s no way they’ll get underestimated again.